I don't want music to ever be free. I want my artists to be able to continue their craft and keep their concert costs relatively low. I want to pay them for their goods :) The people I listen to tend to be good enough for at least a dollar a song.
The problem with this is it assumes you can reasonably get to their concerts. One of my favorite artists is playing a gig on his home ground next Wednesday. It's 1,500 miles away from me. To the best of my knowledge, it's been years since he last played within a thousand miles of my house. I haven't seen him perform since 2006.
Also, I don't know about you, but the idea that you should support musicians by buying "gear" (I assume you mean stuff like t-shirts) just seems very, very mixed-up...
This is why I love bandcamp - pay as little or as much as you like is a great system. I, and others I know, have downloaded something for free, liked it, and gone back an given the artist money (along with a bunch of new sales through recommendations).
